Mannequins promote “dangerously thin” body ideals

Retail mannequins used to advertise female fashion in the UK are “too thin” and may be promoting unrealistic body ideals, according to new research from the University of Liverpool's Institute of Psychology, Health and Society.

The research, led by the university’s Dr Eric Robinson, surveyed national retailers located on the high street of two cities in the UK, Liverpool and Coventry, and accessed the body size of the ‘male’ and ‘female’ mannequins using visual rating scales. They found that 100 percent of female mannequins represented a severely underweight woman, while only 8 percent of male mannequins represented an underweight body size.

The findings were published in The Journal of Eating Disorders and showed that, on average, the sizes weren't just equivalent to someone who would be slightly underweight but severely so, adding that they were advertising “unrealistic” ideals and that if the mannequins were real people they would be considered “medically unhealthy”.

The research came about after Dr Eric Robinson saw news reports that consumers were complaining about the size of fashion mannequins, even though numerous retailers were claiming to be adopting more appropriate sized mannequins.

“Because ultra-thin ideals encourage the development of body image problems in young people, we need to change the environment to reduce emphasis on the value of extreme thinness,” said Robinson. “We of course are not saying that altering the size of high street fashion mannequins will on its own ‘solve’ body image problems. What we are instead saying is that presentation of ultra-thin female bodies is likely to reinforce inappropriate and unobtainable body ideals, so as a society we should be taking measures to stop this type of reinforcement.”

Robinson added: “Given that the prevalence of body image problems and disordered eating in young people is worryingly high, positive action that challenges communication of ultra-thin ideal may be of particular benefit to children, adolescents and young adult females.”